


Dragon Scale

by AnthyHimemiya



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst and Humor, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-10
Updated: 2014-11-10
Packaged: 2018-02-24 19:16:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2593205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnthyHimemiya/pseuds/AnthyHimemiya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Azula learns the secrets of firebending from dragons.  Takes place immediately after The Search.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dragon Scale

Azula awoke after the rain stopped falling; morning mist shrouded her as she huddled against the tree. She had a sour feeling in her brain. The memories of her mother made her skin lurch. Years of nightmares, of feeling her mother’s tongue lash her with venom, of seeing her cold yellow stare, of cursory smiles and superficial touch. Hearing her voice again… it was anti-climatic. Her mannerisms were foreign and her voice lacked that sickly ire, but she was the same old Ursa. She was still afraid.

All night, the thoughts attacked her. Azula attacked back. But in the slivers of dawn, she saw no trail of refuse leading her back to the little house where Zuko surely stayed the night.

She stretched and ran her fingers through her damp hair, flicking the moisture into the ground. Somehow, she felt different. She neither felt worn down nor alight. Just alive. She uncrinkled the bark from her clothes and skin, and failed to firebend her clothes dry. Instead of sparking her rage, it only deepened her feeling of nothingness. This was different than the eclipse. She was no longer worthy of divine powers. Despite her birth and heritage, like Ursa, she too could be forgotten and thrown away into a life of peasantry. Like ZuZu.

She could no longer cry or shout. All she could do was walk. Eventually, she reached a clearing with a small clay house. A man greeted her at the door; he was tall, fat, and shared her gold eyes. His few remaining teeth were sharpened to a point.

“Hello, Princess Azula. I’ve been expecting you for a long time. Come in.”

“And who are you?” she questioned suspiciously.

He ignored her. “I know you can’t firebend.” Azula stiffened, then cursed herself for appearing weak momentarily. For being so weak. “It’s best if you follow me inside, where _less_ benevolent spirits are _not_ plotting your death. You can still die.” He glowered at her, but kept his large grin. She followed him inside briskly, but kept up her guard.

“What does a spirit like you want with me?” she asked him, trying to remain two steps ahead. “To do a dirty deed for you in the mortal world? Something a floozy ghost couldn’t accomplish. Tired of getting knocked over by the wind every time a baby mooselion farts?”

“Zuko knows something you don’t. Something that makes him more worthy to rule than you. Zuko has a secret.”

Azula crossed her legs and frowned at him. “What do you know about my brother?”

“He met the last living dragon. It gave him ancient knowledge of fire. Zuko was able to defeat you with the power of a dragon guiding him.”

Azula’s eyes grew wide. Dragons… she should have known her fat old uncle was never a man of his word. Iroh must know, too, what the dragon told Zuko. Yet another family secret.

“I can take you to a dragon. You are a fire princess; it is your birth destiny.  You are descended from dragons.”

Azula smiled at him and leaned forward. “That sounds promising, old man. When do we start?”

“There is no need to wait. But, there is one condition…” He rummaged for a box in his closet. “You must recite the oath passed down from generation to generation of Fire Nation Royalty to summon the dragons.”

He handed Azula an iridescent rainbow scale. She looked it over and knew it was otherworldly; a possession that could not be crafted by human hands. It was frankly the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. It sent shivers down her spine.

“Repeat after me:

**I wish, I wish, with all my heart, to fly with dragons in a land apart!** ”


End file.
